| Embarrassment is a feeling that
we are experiencing as well, especially in the case of Dan who
is, quite obviously, an American. In the Korean church service
on a recent Sunday morning we were embarrassed by the snickers
of the members of the congregation when the minister, in his sermon,
told how the congressional cafeteria changed the name of French
fries to “Freedom fries.” To the Korean mind this
was a trivial response in the face of the terrible sufferings
brought about by war.
Concern is an almost daily feeling. Will the price of heating
oil and gasoline continue to increase? What will happen when the
war in Iraq is over? Will North Korea be next? For the first time
in decades members of the international community here are asking
about evacuation plans in the event of war. Some Korean colleagues
have expressed the concern that there will be bombs falling on
North Korea within a year’s time. There is an uncertainty
in the air that we have not felt in the entire time that we have
been in Korea, and this a great cause for concern.
Apprehension is another emotion that is always present. Should
we travel to Europe with our students for a continuing education
event this summer? Is it safe to fly on a U.S. or British airline?
Should we attend the Royal Asiatic Society garden party this year,
especially since it is usually held at the residence of either
the American or the British ambassador? Most certainly there will
be terrorism against Americans following the war in Iraq. Which
places will be likely targets and how can we avoid them?
The reality is that most folks here in Korea suppress all of
these attitudes and feelings and tend to be a bit like residents
of California who live with the threat of earthquakes, or residents
of Oklahoma who live with the threat of tornadoes. There is an
awareness of the dangers involved and you make emergency preparations,
but you do not let these things prey on your mind. In short, you
go about your daily business as if nothing has happened and everything
is the same.
And so, our classes at Hanil University continue. Our leading
worship and preaching at the Jeonju English Church continues each
Sunday afternoon. We continue to attend faculty meetings and committee
meetings. We continue to carry out research, write articles for
academic journals, and keep up an extensive correspondence. We
continue to counsel students concerning their studies, their relationships,
and their future plans. And yes, we continue to make plans ourselves.
In May we will deliver a series of lectures on the Apostles’
Creed at a Chinese church in Kobe, Japan. Several exciting publishing
events are in the works. Life goes on, but deep in the back of
our minds is the nagging thought that this may not always be the
case. A “war that nobody wants” could break out on
the Korean peninsula, or a terrorist bomb could go off just as
we are getting out of a taxi.
We take great comfort in those stirring words of Martin Luther
in the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”—“We
will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through
us.”
And the words of Psalm 25:5 have become especially meaningful
to us in recent weeks—“Teach me to live according
to your truth, for you are my God, who saves me. I always trust
in you.”
Let us pray for peace, and let us work for peace, in our world
and in our lives wherever we may be, and may God’s truth
triumph through us as we live according to that truth.
Faithfully in mission,
Carol Chou Adams / Daniel J. Adams
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page
174 |
